Apparatus for treating textile materials with a fluid bath



Nov. 15, 1966 c. VALLS 3,285,037

APPARATUS FOR TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS WITH A FLUID BATH 4 Sheets-Sheet l FledlAug. 27, 1963 N .Ql

/NVENTOR l Tw 4L/I CON/2,400 VALLS Y Nov. 15, 1966 .VALLS 3,285,037

APPARATUS FOR TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS WITH A FLUID BATH Filed-Aug. 27, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 /N VENTO/ CONRADO VALL 5 Nov. 15, 1966 c. VALLS 3,285,037

APPARATUS FOR TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS WITH A FLUID BATH 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 27, 1963 m, .gli

N Qi

/N VE NTO/2 CONRADO WILLS Nov. l5, 1966 c. VALLS 3,285,037

APPARATUS FOR TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS WITH A FLUID BATH Filed Aug. 27, 1965 4 Sheets-5heet 4 F/G. 3a F/G. 3b

/N VEN TOR 6 C ONRADO VALLS United States Patent O 4 s Claims. icl. 6s-1s) This invention relates to apparatus for the treatment of textile materials.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved apparatus adapted for the treatment of textile articles and/or materials in the form of hanks, yarns, braids, fabrics, flexible laminated products, felt, and so forth.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved apparatus for treating textile material in a continuous manner.

It is still another object of the invention to provide an apparatus for treating textile materials to enable a more advantageous realization of industrial operations such as scouring, bleaching, dyeing, steeping, acidifying, washing, and the like.

It -is a further object of the invention to provide for improved treatment of textile material with or without controlled tension and with uniform or variable temperatures at variable and controlled speeds.

It is still another object of the invention to provide for controlling the relative velocities of a uid bath and textile materials being treated thereby in accordance with the requirements of the specific material being treated.

According to one aspect of the invention there is contemplated an apparatus of the above-noted type comprising a plurality of `chambers in superposed relationship and including extremities coupled in such a manner that the chambers cooperatively constitute a zig-zag path. In further accordance with the invention, textile material input and output means are coupled to respective of the aforesaid chambers at opposite ends of the zig-zag path and guide means are provided in the extremities Vof the chambers for guiding the aforesaid material along this path.

In addition, means are provided for supplying the material to the input means, the material extending through the input means and the path and output means, there being provided means for withdrawing the material from the output means and supply means for supplying a bath uid to the input and output means and to the chambers. Finally, means is contemplated for regulating the velocity at which the material travels through the path and bath uid therein.

In accordance with a feature of the invention it is contemplated that the bath fluid and textile material may travel in the same or opposite directions, provided there is a controlled relative speed therebetween.

In accordance -with another feature of the invention, the aforesaid chambers may be rectangular in cross-section for handling -sheets and the like or may be circular in cross-section for handling tubular variants of the textile material.

The invention moreover contemplates, in accordance with further features thereof, the provision of rollers at judiciously selected positions and the use of temperature control means in unusual manner, as will become apparent hereinafter.

Further contemplated within the scope of the invention are cooling and heating means constituting temperature control means arranged in different ways according to specific embodiments of the invention as will also become apparent hereinafter.

Still another feature of the invention relates to the provision of uid lock means whereby textile materials may be entered into the apparatus of the invention and withdrawn therefrom while maintaining the fluid rin the apparatus under controlled hydrostatic pressure.

Yet other embodiments of the invention relate to maintaining the bath fluid under the sole pressure of a hydrostatic head caused by a gravity feed.

The apparatus of the invention offers many important advantages, in that a continuous technique is afforded, the tension and temperature of which are always under absolute control. y

One particularly notable advantage is the great savings in manipulation time, which in some cases is very signicantly less than the time employed with conventional apparatus.

Yet another advantage of the invention consists in the possibility of working at temperatures in excess of C., due to the possibility of maintaining a bath under hydrostatic pressure.

Still other advantages of the invention relate to the fact that bleaching is sometimes rendered unnecessary in certain cases, due to the much greater efliciency of the scouring operation permitted in accordance with the invention.

Yet further advantages of the invention relate to the considerable reduction in space required for the apparatus, due to the particular design thereof and also to the reduction of cost of the apparatus with or without consideration of its increased productivity and with or without consideration of the reduced requirement of power for driving the same.

Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of some preferred embodiment-s thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE l is an elevational view of an apparatus provided in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE la is an elevation view on enlarged scale of a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. l taken at right angles to the view of FIG. l;

FIGURE 3 illustrates a variation of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIGURES 3a and 3b show in side view and end View respectively a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 3 on enlarged scale;

FIGURE 4 shows the details of a system working without hydrostatic pressure with a variable bath velocity provided by propulsion means;

FIGURE 5 illustrates an apparatus in accordance with still another embodiment of the invention working under gravity control; and

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged detail of the textile treating chambers employed in the aforesaid apparatus.

Before explanation of the draw-ings is undertaken, it is to be noted that wherever the term bath is employed in the following text it may be taken as meaning any solution in motion or dispersion susceptible of acting on the textile material to be treated.

As shown in the drawing, apparatus provided in accordance with the invention constitutes a textile input and bath evacuation assembly. This assembly comprises a mouthpiece 1, of any required shape, having mounted therein closing rollers 2 and flexible laminae 3 or other of such elements which will cooperate with said rollers to allow the passage of a textile element 4, while at the same time preventing the escape of the bath which is maintained under pressure within the interior of said mouthpiece 1. The laminae are shown in greatest detail in FIG. la.

Said mouthpiece is provided with a manometer S indicating continuously the hydrostatic pressure of the bath, which pressure is adjustable by means of a valve 1S. Two transverse tubes open into the mouthpiece 1 so that bath fluid can enter and/or leave the same. Said tubes constitute the extremities of tubing 6 via which bath uid is impelled or evacuated by means of la pump 7 connected via tubing 8 with mouthpiece 9 which serves as an outylet for the textile and is provided with closing rollers 10 and flexible laminae 11 or a similar combination. Laminae 11 are of the same construction as those of laminae 3. Mouthpiece 9 is provided with a manometer 57 connected to thesame for the control of bath pressure.

The bath in mouthpiece 1 communicates through connecting pipe 12 with an auxiliary tank 13. Pipe 12 is provided with a safety valve 14 and with a valve 1S for hydrostatic pressure regulation as previously stated. Pipe 12 discharges through a distributing coil 16 into the bottom of said auxiliary tank.

- Tank 13 communicates through tubing 17 and filter box 54 with an auxiliary pump 1S which in turn is coupled to tubing 6, thus creating a hydrostatic pressure for the bath. This arrangement allows the addition of various kinds of products to the treatment bath.

Textile material is passed through mouthpiece 1, guided by means of an independently driven roller 19 towards the conduit 20 which connects with a treatment chamber assembly 21. Assembly 21 contains a number of cham- .bers which will be varied in accordance with the desired type production. These chambers will be arranged one over the other and yare separated one from the other by intermediate heating or cooling chambers 22 (see also FIG. 6) to permit temperature control over the entire .path of the textile material. In special cases, the heating or cooling in chambers 22 can be effected independently with separate automatic temperature control for each chamber. However, in the most usual construction, said chambers will be connected together by means of elbowed tubes 23, allowing the passage of a heating or refrigeratying liquid. The arrangement of the chambers 21 in FIG. 6 shows said chambers interconnected at their extremities so that the textile passes from one to the next driven by rollers 24. At said extremities, dismountable inspection doors y25 are provided to facilitate service requirements, the doors being easily removed for this purpose.

Said chambers 21 are closed-in laterally by plates 26 and 27, through which pass the shafts for the rollers 24 which run in bearings 28 mounted on the framework of the machine and terminating in pulleys 29 for driving purposes. At least one point on each of said rollers will have a tangential velocity greater than the linear velocity of the textile so that, by automatically or controllably varying this speed relationship, the textile will be subjected to an internal strain.

The main drive is provided by means of chains 30 and 51 mounted on a pinion 31 of a reduction gear. 32 driven by a motor 33 (FIG. 2) which drives all of the moving components of the machine.

The textile material is passed successively through all the chambers 21 and is driven tinally by a roller 37 arranged at the outlet of the chambers to pass through a vertical conduit 38 towards the outlet mouthpiece 9 previously mentioned. The material then guided by a roller 39 passes over wringer rollers 40 above which a crownface cylinder 41 is provided to suppress wrinkles. A tank may be provided beneath the wringer rollers from which the liquid is run by conduit to the supplementary tank 13 to be used again for supplying the machine.

A coil 42 or similar means, for heating or cooling and controlled by a valve 43, isprovided within the outlet mouthpiece 9 together with an automatic temperature regulator.

The entry of the textile material into the machine may be either via the mouthpiece 1 or via the outlet mouthpiece 9, so that the material will travel in the same direction as the bath in the first case and Iin an opposite direction in the latter case. There should always exist, however, a determined difference in velocities in either case. In the case of reverse running of the textile, the wringerroller assembly is, of course, displaced to receive the material at the opposite mouthpiece of the bath.

The machine is assembled on a conventional type framework as seen in the drawing. This framework may be changed without altering the essential nature of the machine.

A check valve 44 is interposed in the main bath return circuit, comprising the tubing 6, the tubing 8 and the pump 7, to avoid bath b=ack-ow. A filter 45 is also incorporated to remove impurities which the bath may contain. Other tubing 46 may be connected to the tubing 6 for the purpose of adding to the bath by means of a pump (not shown) of adequate pressure.

In order to carry out a scouring operation by means of detergent or alkaline product, an Iautomatic control (not shown) is placed at the upper part of the tank 13 to control the addition of the necessary solutions in precise amounts and constant composition to counteract the natural impurities of the textile or those acquired during weaving or added voluntarily, to maintain the initial concentration and characteristics of the bath.

When the bath is prepared and air eliminated from the interior of the machine by an opening of valve 15 and when the two pumps 7 and 18 are in operation and the required pressure and temperature attained, the textile material to be treated is introduced into the mouthpiece 1 or 9 according to whether it is to run in the same d-irection or against that of the bath and the treatment is begun.

In this treatment, favorable factors for high production are induced by the relative bath velocity which produces a mechanical action on the textile material while at the same time accelerating the chemical action due to the rapid renewal of the bath in contact with the surfaces of the material. In addition, the new chemical bodies formed on the surfaces of the material produced by saponified products will be eliminated by the aforementioned mechanical action. The static pressure to which the bath is subjected also acts favorably as the textile is cleaned more elicaciously, especially the internal portions of the same, thus securing better hydrophilic qualities.

The heating and cooling operations may be, it will be noted, lsuppressed in the operations of washing and rinsing. By an opening of the valve S2, FIG. 2, and a closing valve 53 of tubing 6, the bath can be drained off and the machine emptied. In certain cases according to the textile material to be treated, it will be better to divide this operation between two or more machines to avoid high water consumption, especially in cases where water is scarce.

Three working techniques are provided for continuous dyeing operations. In accordance with the first technique, dyeing is effected in the machine itself, there being added to the above-noted mechanisms a special colorimeter so that the liquid passing from the tubing 6 automatically maintains the same color density and intensity as before making Contact with the textile material.

In accordance with the second technique, a colorimetric analysis is made after a certain amount of textile has been treated, and there is automatically added the amount of coloring material absorbed by the textile in accordance with said analysis. This is an easily controlled process in view of the fact that the velocities of the textile and bath are constant.

The third technique adaptable to this machine consists of adding coloring material. to the textile material by means of a set of pressure rollers or a foulard (not shown) mounted in series with the machine, the development and fixing of the coloring substance in the machine itself being effected by means of appropriate additives in the water bath,

The chambers for the ,treatment of the textile material Will be of rectangular and flattened form as in FIGS. l and 2 when the material is in the form of a sheet. However, they may be of cylindrical form as shown in FIG. 3, in which will be seen the cylindrical chambers 34 for the treatment of rope or cord-like materials, in which case jackets 35 are used for heating or cooling. Said jackets have inspection covers 36 at bends which unite two successive chambers 34. The inspection covers are shown in greatest detail in FIGS. 3a and 3b.

The invention further contemplates that the machine be constructed to work without hydrostatic pressure at variable bath velocity by means of a propulsion pump whose pressure is indicated on a manometer 56, as seen in FIG. 4 in which are seen a pump 47 and tubing 48 which conveys the bath towards the inlet or outlet mouth 9. This system can be applied to an assembly of rectangular or circular chambers at will. The closure existing in the inlet or outlet mouth is eliminated in this construction together with the hydrostatic-pressure creating pump 18 as is also the valves 14 and 15 of FIG. 1. The valve 55 regulates the bath delivery and also regulates bath velocity in the chambers 21.

It is possible also for the machine to be arranged to work with a bath-velocity control by gravity. For this purpose, an auxiliary chamber 49 (FIG. 5) is provided laterally of the machine and is connected to the treatment chambers which may be rectangular or circular. A liquid level S0 is provided consisting of a transparent tube mounted parallel to the auxiliary chamber 49. In this case, the inlet and outlet closures of FIG. 1 are eliminated, the machine working exclusively under the pressure produced by the bath column.

There will now be obvious to those skilled in the art many modiiications and variations of the structure set forth above. These modifications and variations will not depart from the scope of the invention if dened by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for treating a textile material, said apparatus comprising a plurality of chambers in superposed relationship, said chambers including extremities coupled such that the chambers constitute a zig-zag path, textile material input and output means coupled to respective of said chambers at opposite ends of said path, guide means in the extremities of said chambers for guiding said material along said path, means for supplying said material to said input means, said material extending through said input means, path and output means, means for withdrawing said material from said output means, supply means for supplying a bath fluid to one of said input and output means and to said chambers, means for regulating the velocity at which said material travels through said path and the bath uid therein, to provide relative velocity between the uid and the material all along said path, and detachable inspection covers in the extremities of said chambers adapted for providing access thereinto.

2. Apparatus for treating a textile material, said apparatus comprising a plurality of chambers in superposed relationship, said chambers including extremities coupled such that the chambers constitute a zig-zag path, textile material input and output means coupled to respective of said chambers at opposite ends of said path, guide means in the extremities of said chambers for guiding said material along said path, means for supplying said material to said input means, said material extending through said input means, path and output means, means for withdrawing said material from said output means, supply means for supplying a bath uid to one of said input and output means and to said chambers, means for regulating the velocity at which said material travels through said path and the bath uid therein to provide relative velocity between the iluid and the material all along said path, said guide means being rollers, lateral closure plates in the extremities of said chambers, shafts extending through said plates and supporting said rollers, and pulleys on the shafts for driving the same.

3. Apparatus for treating a textile material, said apparatus comprising a plurality of chambers in superposed relationship, said chambers including extremities coupled such that the chambers constitute a zig-zag path, textile material input and output means coupled to respective of said chambers at opposite ends of said path, guide means in the extremities of said chambers for guiding said material along said path, means for supplying said material t-o said input means, said material extending through said input means, path and output means, means for withdrawing said material from said output means, supply means for supplying a bath uid to one of said input and output means and to said chambers, means for regulating the velocity at which said material travels through said path and the bath fluid therein to provide relative velocity between the uid and the material all along said path, said supply means comprising conduits extending between said input and output means and said chambers and forming a closed loop, a pump in said loop for circulating fluid under pressure, tubing extending from the conduits of the first loop and forming a branch loop therewith, a pump in said tubing, and an auxiliary tank in said tubing whereby bath iluid may be introduced into said rst loop through the branch loop.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein said tubing of the branch loop is in communication with the conduits of the main loop at the input means, the apparatus further comprising a safety valve and a control valve in the tubing between the auxiliary tank and the input means.

5. Apparatus for treating a textile material, said apparatus comprising a plurality of chambers in superposed relationship, said chambers including extremities coupled such that the chambers constitute a zig-Zag path, textile input and output means coupled to respective of said chambers at opposite ends of said path, means for supplying said material to said input means, said material extending through said input means, path and output means, means for withdrawing said material from Said 4output means, guide rollers positioned in the extremities of said chambers for guidably advancing the material, supply means for circulating a bath uid under pressure between said output means and input means via said chambers and along said path in a direction opposite to the passage of said material such that the iluid and material flow in countercurrent, the chambers having a cross-section suflicient to permit the passage of material with clearance therethrough, the iluid bath passing through said chambers around said material, said supply means comprising conduits extending between said input and output means, said conduits forming with said input and output means and said chambers a substantially closed loop, a pump in said loop for circulating bath uid under pressure, tubing extending from said conduits and forming a branch loop with the first said loop, a pump in said tubing and an auxiliary tank in said branch loop for the supply of treatment uid from the branch loop to said bath in the first said loop, the apparatus further comprising temperature control means interposed between said chambers to permit temperature control over the entire path of said material.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim S wherein said tubing of the branch loop is in communication with the conduits of the main loop at the input means, the apparatus further comprising, a safety valve and a control valve in the tubing between the auxiliary tank and the input means.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 comprising detachable inspection covers in the extremities ofsaid charnbers adapted for providing access thereinto.

References Cited by ihe Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Willard 68-18.1 Zillessen 68--184 Fish 68--5.5 Cohoe.

Dursteler `8-151 Wentz 68-15 X Hannay et al. 68-15 X 8 Semenyna 68-180 Moelter 68-178 X Brown 68-177 X Rust 68-175 Hablutzel 68-5.5 Isley 68-177 X Luczynski etal. 68-5.5 Suggs S8-5.4 Faraguna 68-184 FOREIGN PATENTS of 1906 Great Britain.

IRVING BUNEVICH, Primary Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS FOR TREATING A TEXTILE MATERIAL, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF CHAMBERS IN SUPERPOSED RELATIONSHIP, SAID CHAMBERS INCLUDING EXTREMITIES COUPLED SUCH THAT THE CHAMBERS CONSTITUTE A ZIG-ZAG PATH, TEXTILE MATERIAL INPUT AND OUTPUT MEANS COUPLED TO RESPECTIVE OF SAID CHAMBERS AT OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID PATH, GUIDE MEANS IN THE EXTREMITIES OF SAID CHAMBERS FOR GUIDING SAID MATERIAL ALONG SAID PATH, MEANS FOR SUPPLYING SAID MATERIAL TO SAID INPUT MEANS, SAID MATERIAL EXTENDING THROUGH SAID INPUT MEANS, PATH AND OUTPUT MEANS, MEANS FOR WITHDRAWING SAID MATERIAL FROM SAID OUTPUT MEANS, SUPPLY MEANS FOR SUPPLYING AS BATH FLUID TO ONE OF SAID INPUT AND OUTPUT MEANS AND TO SAID CHAMBERS, MEANS FOR REGULATING THE VELOCITY AT WHICH SAID MATERIAL TRAVELS THROUGH SAID PATH AND THE BATH FLUID THEREIN, TO PROVIDE RELATIVE VELOCITY BETWEEN THE FLUID AND THE MATERIAL ALL 